Iron Man at last

IT was worth the wait – those five words sum up everything you need to know about Iron Man.

From start to finish – and I mean the finish, stay until the end of the credits – this was perfection in film making by Jon Favreau – easily one of the best super hero films ever.

Robert Downey jnr was note perfect as Tony Stark, perfectly matched against the avuncular charm of Jeff Bridges as the baddie.

The suit itself looked fantastic too, with all the technology feeling believable.

That brings me on to my sci-fi stuff – while I was watching the credits, I noticed the film has a science / futurist advisor, John Underkoffler.

He has history at this sort of thing, having worked on films such as Minority Report and Hulk (the Ang Lee one) , giving the benefit of his advice.

“The science and technology advisor role is a new, new thing in the film industry. Most people, myself included, are surprised to find out how broad the job is,” he said.

On Minority Report, Underkoffler, who received his Ph.D. in media arts and sciences in 1999 from MIT, was involved in mapping out “future history” during script revisions–trying to determine how political and social forces will shape technological innovation. He also acted as a resource to the film’s visual artists as they created props, sets and costumes. And best of all, he was on the set during filming to provide on-the-spot technical advice and coach actors in the finer points of futuristic living.

Pretty cool stuff – and it gives sci-fi films an edge of (future) realism to help ground the film and make it more believable.

For instance, in Iron Man, the 3-D work station and robot assistants bore the hand of Underkoffler – expect to see them in a few years’ time.

Another thing we can expect in a few years’ time is a Captain America film, and if you watch Iron Man very closely, you may see something special.

Did you see it? There, underneath Tony Stark’s right arm, is Captain America’s shield!! It seems to be under construction, but it is still super cooler than cool. Thanks to the good folks at First Showing.net for pointing this out.